Biodiversity and structural data from hedgerow management and rejuvenation experiments in England, 2005-2016

The dataset includes data on vegetation composition, flower counts, berry availability over winter, pollinator visitation rates, invertebrate, hedge structure and hedgerow regrowth from a set of long running hedgerow experiments. There were three experiments in total. Experiment 1 was based in Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire, and was used to investigate the long-term effects of timing and frequency of cutting on resource provision for wildlife. Experiment 2 was based at 5 sites across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Devon and was used to investigate the effect of timing, intensity and frequency of hedgerow cutting. Experiment 3 was based at 5 sites across Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire and was used to investigate the effects of different rejuvenation techniques on hedgerows. All three experiments were randomised plot experiments (full details of plots and their treatments can be found in the supporting documentation. The majority of the data was collected between 2010 and 2016 but for one experiment there is data from 2005.

The long running hedgerow experiments had two linked aims focused on management to maintain and restore the hedgerow resource under the agri-environment schemes:
• to examine the effects of simple cutting management regimes promoted by Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) and Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) on the quality and quantity of wildlife habitat, and food resources in hedgerows; and
• to identify, develop and test low-cost, practical options for hedgerow restoration and rejuvenation applicable at the large-scale under both ELS and HLS.

This research was funded by Defra (project number BD2114: Effects of hedgerow management and restoration on biodiversity) and managed by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).